DEI By Deliberate Design

The recent Wall Street Journal article about the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision and its potential to chill corporate diversity efforts suggests that the decision has fueled an organized attack on corporate diversity efforts which, in turn, has caused some businesses to pause corporate DEI programming. This decision does not undermine the legal framework supporting DEI and certainly does not justify a retreat from it. With very few exceptions, Title VII and its state counterparts have always prohibited employers from making employment decisions based on characteristics the law protects.

The Supreme Court's decision concerning discrimination in educational admissions, including Justice Gorsuch's concurring opinion referencing Title VII's "materially identical language," speaks to the manner of achieving diversity programs, but not the program goals. But the decision does offers an opportunity for a renewed focus on how to achieve diversity goals. The